High street stores continue to drop but why is this?
High street stores are continuing to fail with many companies closing some of their stores to save the business.
The internet is becoming the first choice for shoppers leaving high street stores/branches to struggle survival. Everyone is turning to shopping online as it is seen as an easier way to shop; this is because you can do it from the comfort of your home and there is no need to face traffic. This is leaving high street stores at a high risk of losing profits.
Online shopping is a big hit to many people as you can compare prices of foods and clothes etc. Online shopping saves you from the long trails around shops to find the specific item you want, this is a big reason why people find online shopping better than going in-store.
How does online shopping affect high street stores?
Online shopping affects the high street because the internet is where the customers first choice is, this means the high street are losing money as the market are invested in online shopping. The rent for stores is increasing so it is becoming a struggle for retailer to meet the prices and still earn large profits to run the business. As prices of rent are rising it means stores are having to increase the prices of their products to survive. By doing this they are losing customers as with research they can find cheaper prices online.
Online shops such as Amazon and Asos are online only stores that have been on the rise for a while now, they have taken market of many people as it as seen as a more easy and convenient way to shop. There are also fashion brands such as Boohoo and Missguided that are taking over fashion stores like New Look as they are staying on top of fashion trends and needs of customers. New Look is failing due to not changing enough/quicker to keep up with latest fashion trends, their clothes are more sophisticated which does not cover the whole of population’s desired items. New Look has also been around a while so when fashion brands such as PrettyLittleThing , Missguided and Boohoo start it is seen as something fresh; everyone has more interest in testing the brands out and they become more popular as they are focusing on what they should be producing to fit in with customers.
Why are the high street retailers struggling?
High street retailers are struggling due to many factors such as financial struggles; if stores are struggling for business it causes a big financial issue. A store needs staff, lights, heating, a building and many other things. These all require money, if a store is not making a lot of money it can not afford to have staff, utilities or keep the store open. You can not have a store open with no staff or basic electricity therefore the shop would have to close.
Retailers are most likely to go into debt if they are not getting enough money and business, this is another reason why they are struggling. If the debts get high companies are more than likely close and sell. An example of this is New Look who is had to close as many as 60 of their 600 UK stores to help their massive debt.
Competitors are also a big part of some high streets closing as customers might be able to find cheaper items elsewhere and want to buy them there instead of using more of their money on products. An example is B&M Bargains, people may prefer to go here as the products are a lot cheaper than big name stores.
What is the impact of failing high street shops?
It is predicted that 70,000 high street jobs will be lost this year as UK high streets shops are closing down due to business struggles. It is estimated that from January 2018 to the start of June 2018 there was 28,000 jobs been lost due to the struggles of the high street. It has been calculated that there are almost one in 10 shops on the UK high streets that currently stand empty.
In the future will stores switch to online only? Will the high street no longer exist?
